Glasgow Rangers manager Michael Beale arrived at Ibrox during the break for the World Cup and is yet to enjoy his first match in charge.

The Gers return to action on the 15th of December against Hearts in the Premiership and it will be his first chance to evaluate his side in a competitive setting.

Beale will then have the opportunity to mix up his squad next month as the January transfer window opens for business and he will be able to sell players he does not want to retain and bring in his own gems to bolster the XI.

One player who could be on the chopping block heading into 2023 is injured central defender Filip Helander. The Swedish international is projected to be back on the 22nd of December but it remains to be seen whether or not he will be able to make an appearance for Rangers before January.

He has been out of action since April and has missed 94 competitive games due to injury since the start of the 2019/20 campaign with the Light Blues.

The £14k-per-week dud is a liability as he has been absent for at least 21 matches in each of the last three seasons and his record indicates that he is not a player Beale will be able to trust moving forward, due to his fitness issues.

Beale could now ditch the 29-year-old by securing a deal to sign another player in his position during the upcoming January window.

Journalist Alan Nixon tweeted, on his private account, (07/12/2022), that he had “heard” about possible interest from Rangers in Hibernian centre-back Ryan Porteous.

Does Helander have a future at Rangers?

The Gers must now sign the Scotland international as he could be an upgrade on Helander, both in terms of his availability and his quality on the pitch.

Porteous has not missed a single match due to injury since the 2019/20 campaign and this indicates that the 23-year-old has a better chance of being available week-in-week-out in comparison to the current Gers defender.

On the pitch, the youngster has caught the eye with a string of impressive performances in the Premiership. The enforcer has averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.29 across 16 outings in the top-flight, winning 68% of his duels and completing 80% of his attempted passes.

Hibs boss Lee Johnson claimed that he plays with “fire in the belly”, whilst John Hughes once described the gem as being a “heart-on-sleeve, full-blooded type of player”, which is backed up by his seven yellow and two red cards last season.

Helander, meanwhile, has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.75 in six Premiership matches, winning 59% of his battles, this term and these statistics suggest that Porteous would be a big upgrade on the Swedish defender.

Therefore, Beale must swoop to sign the Hibernian star as it would then allow him to ditch the injured liability in January and it could improve his squad heading into the second half of the season.